This event is subtitled the Chris M. Hutchison Memorial, named after a sadly deceased Crowwood stalwart. The competition has been subsidised over its four years by a generous Crowwood member, to a total of over £600, but the inevitable reduction in this largesse has required a gradual return to economic entry fees.

Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, the entry has never yet attained the notional "break-even" figure of 30, and so even with a continuing modest subsidy and almost zero expenses ( beyond the unavoidable grading and hall fees which are clearly irreducible ) its future must be in some doubt.

We might consider running it experimentally in 2002 as a minimum prize event, with a lower entry of course, as discussed recently by Donald Wilson and others. Even with a zero prize fund however, the current entry level would set the entry fee at around £8 after discount.

Tom Donohue, featuring prominently in several recent tournaments, beat Richard Wiltshire in round 2, following this with the scalp of top seed John Henderson. Jim Doyle dispensed with Dave Gillespie to join him as leader on 3 / 3.

Doyle was victorious in their round 4 clash, with Henderson and Gillespie both winning to join Donohue on 3 / 4. The final round top 2 boards finished Henderson 0-1 Doyle and Donohue 1-0 Gillespie, to leave Jim Doyle with his second 100% score following Cathcart and also retention of the trophy he won last year.

Ian Brownlee and Richard Wiltshire had wins over Jim Smalls and Rabindra Paul respectively to share 3rd with Robert Loughran ( the 1999 winner on 5 / 5 ) who benefited more from taking the grading prize instead ! 26 entered, but not all finished …

RESULTS 1. J Doyle (SH/CW) 5 pts £100 + C.M.Hutchison trophy for 1 year. 2. T. Donohue (HC) 4 pts £50, 3= R. Wiltshire (GM), I. Brownlee (HC) 3.5 pts £12-50 each Grading Prize U-1700 DL. Gillespie (CW/OB) 3 pts £25 Grading Prize U-1550 R. Loughran (IR) 3.5 pts (also 3=) £25 Slow Starter Prize 0/2 J. Watson (CN/CW) 2 pts Book prize